This is a meticulously researched and excellently written examination of history that everyone who has a child, works in education, or cares about education should read.

Trust Imani Perry to rewrite the rules on what it means to tell the history of an entire people. If this isn’t nominated for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, I will riot.

This book is both sad and hopeful, scathing and uplifting. Brb, time to (finally) go read Abdurraqib’s entire backlist.

Holler, Child was exactly the kind of short story collection I’m always hoping every single one will be: emotional, hard-hitting, with excellent characters you root for despite their flaws.

Sensory and immersive, brutal and beautiful, Let Us Descend is another masterpiece from our queen Jesmyn Ward.

Temple Folk is a strong work of fiction that does what it sets out to do very effectively. I recommend reading up on the Nation of Islam before diving in, if you are unfamiliar.

Running While Black is the perfect blend of memoir and hard-hitting social commentary. Desir’s focus on the running world is both narrow (making it feel particularly fascinating) and broad (illustrating its necessity.

The Trees is a super-smart, darkly satirical novel about racial lynching in the US. Very few writers could have pulled this off — I liked it a lot and respected it even more.

If I Survive You is a strong, compelling collection of connected stories about a family of Jamaican men living in Miami. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

The Last White Man is another stunner from Mohsin Hamid and his heartbreaking commas. It’s a quick read with lots of layers that kept me thinking long after I’d closed it.

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head is a masterful collection of poems by a master poet on womanhood, trauma, and the refugee experience. They’re heavy, but hard-hitting and moving.

Four Hundred Souls is a triumph of community history. Its unique format and exceptional contributors make it one of the most noteworthy works of nonfiction I’ve read.

Hell of a Book is a really creative, really affecting novel that’s as funny as it is devastating. One heck of a ride, it will surprise you and move you.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is a true feat. This one feels like a new great American novel, sweeping and forceful. I loved all 800 pages, and I expect it to win many awards.

Meant not just to mimic jazz music but to embody it, Jazz is a sweeping, beautiful novel with exquisite prose. I’m in awe of Toni Morrison always!

On Juneteenth is a short but powerful collection of essays. Anne Gordon-Reed’s brilliance as a historian and love for her home of Texas merge into something that everyone should read.

¡Hola Papi! is a funny, compassionate memoir-in-essays full of personality and heart.

The Vanishing Half is a perfectly paced novel with big, full characters and a story that doesn’t let you go. Yes, I am late to the game. Yes, it’s worth your time.

Beloved is Toni Morrison’s “big one” — the one that won the Pulitzer and led her to win the Nobel Prize. I was obviously not disappointed. Incredible.

This book is obviously illuminating and inspiring and impactful to read, because Angela Davis is Angela Davis. Every word from her is a gift to our hearts and brains.